“Some years ago I posted a short feature about a motorcycling woman and her custom 1977 Honda CB550 cafe racer built with her dad George. That lady was Sofi Tsingos. At the time, Sofi was working at Ducati Dallas managing their parts counter, and I was working at MotoCorsa, the Ducati dealership in Portland, heading up the internet marketing and social side of things. In the four years since, she and I both have gone solo, diving head first into two very different careers in the motorcycle industry. While I photograph, catalogue, and review all things related to women in motorcycling, Sofi builds beautiful custom motorcycles under the name GT-Moto while also giving back to the community.

Last year, the custom Honda CB cafe racer project she and George built was raffled off to people across the United States for a total of $33,000. After paying back the cost of parts and base bike (no labor included) they were able to donate over $16,500 to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. This is, to me, one of the most noble causes to donate to, and shows an admirable level of dedication to her craft as well as bettering the world in which we all live.

While she, nor I, are rolling in money from our self employed hustles, we both see a big opportunity to work together and do something for the greater good at the same time. What’s the point in having all this social media “presence” if I’m not using it to make a positive impact?

As the years have gone by, Sofi and I have become very close despite thousands of miles separating us physically. We refer to each other as our sister from another mister, and ever since the day I met Sofi in the desert of California, I have loved this woman. She is inspiring, talented, patient, smart, and makes me laugh so hard I cry. Short phone chats would often turn into hour or longer talks and brainstorm sessions.

One day we were talking about the next GT-Moto charity build, and my subtleness could be compared to the force of being hit by a mack truck- “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could build a bike for charity together this year?!” Next thing you know, we were plotting and planning which modern bike, in a perfect world, we’d want to chop up.”

They’ve ruined a perfectly beautiful MV Agusta! What’s with the knobby tyres? I hope the winner can get all the original parts to restore this abomination to its ridable condition. Just because you can is not a reason to do it!

Well Max,it looks like you don’t understand the meaning of “Custom” when it comes to customizing a motorcycle. This is a beautiful bike, and if I were employed and had a few extra dollars, I would buy at least one ticket, if not more.